Why does the NFL choose games for London that people in U.S. wouldn't watch?

If the NFL is trying to court London as the site for future international expansion, it’s showing it’s interest in a strange way. On Thursday, the league announced the three games that will be played next year at Wembley Stadium.

• Dallas vs. Jacksonville

• Miami vs. Oakland

• Detroit vs. Atlanta

The Jaguars? The Raiders? A game in which the Dolphins are expected to be the best team? What kind of pick-up books has Roger Goodell been reading. Trying to woo London with those games is like taking a beautiful women to McDonald’s on the first date or showing up to an important job interview wearing jorts. If the whole idea is to put your best foot forward, the NFL’s London mission is tripping over itself before that step. Look at the garbage the NFL has sent London’s way since the series began in 2007.

Some of these woeful matchups have been caused by a bit of bad luck. The 2009 Bucs entered the London game at 0-6, but were coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. This year’s winless vs. winless Vikings-Steelers game featured a 2012 playoff team (MIN) and a franchise that’s won two of the last eight Super Bowls. Sometimes you can’t avoid bad games.

Other matchups were always going to be mediocre, like Dallas-Jacksonville and Miami-Oakland next year. Detroit-Atlanta sounds like a good game now (that’s a game I’d be excited to watch on Thanksgiving, for instance) but given the past luck of the international series, it’s almost guaranteed that Detroit will limp into the game with a sub-.500 record or that Matt Ryan will be hurt the week before the game.

On the bright side, the Brits finally get to see America’s Team. That’s clearly the big draw, just as sending the Patriots twice in the past was supposed to be. But when you pair Big D up with the abysmal Jags — a team that no one in Jacksonville wants to watch — the shine comes off that star. It’s like trying to sell audiences on American films by shipping over a Tom Hanks movie, but choosing something like Larry Crowne.

Why does the NFL choose games for London that people in U.S. wouldn't watch?

The league’s 2014 International Series schedule is typically mediocre.

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